The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-25
n earth peace and good will to men,"

IN eartn peace ana 900 Will 10 men,"
and ~ Peter Perkins watched this heauti,
ful countenancc he saw its expressions
change. Sometimes it became that Of u
little child, sweet and i~nfantinc, again it
was tender and pitlful, then IL looked rs
IL must have done when he said, Come
20 me, all yc weary and heavy Laden
then il was nllcl fun Of sorrow and mcrci-
iui goodness, and then IL grew stern and
awful.
Then Peter Perkins noticed that there
WAS a throng ever increasing and reach
inc far below them 80 that the end Of
them was far out of sight. and these
people came siugly 10 the foot Of the
Saviour and here laid gift which was in
stan1y taken by the angels and laid upon
a pair Of scales, which did not measure by
the weight of the git itself, but the
motive which lay Ike q living heart in
side H..
Then Peter Perkins saw that al VINO
had not yet offered their gift had a bur
den 10 carry, largo or small, and he sud-
denly became aware that the bI rden fast
cucd upon his OWL back was enormous
and was very heavy. But be turned 90
the stranger and said. when VIII DO be
my turut'
when an of these shall have passed.
AID hc had 20 stand there with the
great unknown weight upon his shoulders
for long hours, or days. or years be dAl
not know which, while all these people
came by.
lie noticed n man vino staggered by
and laid % heavy weight Of gold chaliccs
and church caudlesticl.s and other en-
blcms no his feet, and Peter Perkins saw
with surprise that they few up in the bal
anco as If Of air. Another offered q
church, which was as so much paper. and
then q poor old woman in rags staggered
along with a cup Of cold water as her only
Offering. This sent the scales down. down,
as If 10 weighed "a ton. and then a pale,
thin man came and offered only % tear.
This, too, weighed heavier than gold.
Sometimes an old broken toy. or some
old, worn garments, or even a crust OF
bread was laid at his feet. and these, too,
were very heavy OF those wonderful
scales.
Peter Perkins noticed. too. that those
whose Gifts were light disappeared from
view. ard he watched until he saw them
iall into space and fade away in distance,
while the angels sent plying giances after
,lcm.
Suddenly the Saviour said.
"No., Peter Perkins what rft have
yuG brought tO the Lord on tbs bis BIRTH
ia.
"Ohl I am willing to give you an ]
hiNc. but This bundle upon my back was
not intended for you, but for the poor. II
you win let me eo back ] viii return with
something more worthy OF YOU.
"But what have you iu that bundle
"Ouly some flour, and meal and sugar,
and ham, and rice, which are not quite
fresh and good. but ] thought they would
DO for the poor -
"Aud have You never heard Of my
words. when / said, Inasmuch as Sc do 10
unto the least of these, lay children. ye
90 40 unto me- Look. thrt cup of water
was given boy q sick aud suffering woman
10 one who suffered worse That holy
tear was given from a pure heart that had
nothing else 20 offer. nut you. out of your
abundance. offer only that which is unfit
for food. and in Offering that 10 the un-
fortunate poor you have offered it. 10 me.
81 did NOT know Oh, please let ne 60
back and / viii do differently -
"Alasi YOU have lived yom life, and
you must. like all that throug You have
seen. take your deeds with you 20 ple,l
lor or against YOU. You can return 40
more than they. All men bring their
passports of GOOD or evil actions with
them here, and once they have come
uaughf can change. They must bear their
fate. Some Of them did NOT know but you
had % mother who taught you Alright, but
YOU forgot her words Of wisdom or pat
them aside. So, now, GO your way
And with these words Peter Perkins
folt himself falling into perdition. weight
ed down by the lnoldy -four and spoiled
bread and sugar.. Down. down he went,
faster than many others who were OF the
way. and he cried ont in his agony Of
fear. when suddenly With that cry he
awokc end sat up In bed. This then had
been "a dream. But il had opened his
eyes. and he began to see things as he
never had done before. lie remembered
his mothers teachings, and me slept ne
more That night. But as soon as daylight
dawned he dressed and went 10 the store
where poor. faithful Mark, who had shaved
ten Years for him, was packing those
wrotched things into the wagon.
,sttff,